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User blog:SolZen321/Knights Vs Dragons
Hey, SolZen here. Those that know my work on Ultraman and Ultra Fan Wiki, are familiar with the fact that I do blogs there, editorials and even tutorial. I decided it was long past due that I do some of those here. I may also do something similar on one of the other wikis, but for now this topic is about Super Robots, specifically the exploration of an idea, a theory from the perspective of the Super Robot Genre. So come along as I rattle on and pretend to be smarter than I actually am, and who know you may learn something. The Basics The theory in question, is one I have come up with, a thematic distillation of several fairy tale and modern stories, especially in Tokusatsu, which I call, the Knight versus Dragon Theory. Simply put, the stereotypical situation of the Knight slaying the Dragon, is allegorical in this case, with both sides being representative or larger ideas. On one hand we have the Knight, representative of Civilization and all the things that implies, technology (he wears armor, processed metals and bears arms of a substance and in a shape not found naturally in nature), the domestication of the wild animal (he often rides a stead, a beast of burden), and he is often seen as a paragon of virtue, man's/civilization's virtues. The Dragon is the wild, the land untouched by civilization, raw and untamed (dwells in caves and in the mountains), it sports claws and fangs, the tools of beasts, and it often breathes fire, representative of natural disasters like forest fires, volcanic eruptions. Super Robots, are part of the Giant Hero genre. Although Giant Heroes like Ultraman are often portrayed by Suitmation, Super Robots still occupy the same idea. They are typically heroic giants that fight off monsters. Kaiju: The Dragons What is a monster? We know a dragon is a monster, but why? Is it because it breathes fire, because it's so large, or is it because it's aggressive? Is it because of how aggressive they typically are? Individually, each of those traits are just that of an animal. Yes, even fire breathing exists in the animal kingdom, in the form of a species of ants. Is it this chimeric combination of these traits that elevates a dragon above mere beasts? Ishiro Honda, the director of the Original Godzilla is noted for saying "Monsters are tragic beings. They are not evil by choice. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy that is their tragedy. They do not attack people because they want to, but because of their size and strength, mankind has no other choice but to defend himself." My point homes in on the last sentence of that quote, 'mankind has no other choice but to defend himself'. A dragon, is mostly an animal, in Eastern traditions dragons are gods, in Western traditions, dragons are akin to demons and the devil. This is due to several distinctions in Eastern and Western Philosophy. The Eastern point of view has always been to be at peace with nature, even as they engage in Civilization building. It is why ancient Chinese and Japanese structure and palaces were wide, and tended to blend in more with the background. Western buildings, castles, fortresses, were symbols of power, power over the land, and against the owner's enemies. It is these two points of view that has decided the place of dragons, the prototype of the kaiju, in the eyes of both types of civilizations. Yet, technically speaking, whether gods or devils, dragons, Kaiju, are still monsters. This is because monsters, are direct threats to civilizations. Western Dragons burn villages and destroy castles. Eastern Dragons, can cause floods, or withhold rain and inflict the land and people with droughts. Both creatures, whether they intend it or not, are capable of what no mere animal can do, destroy civilization. Civilization Words are important, but before we go forward let us define an important word, 'Civilization'. Whatever your definition for the word, it is probably a synonym for the word 'Culture'. While not wrong, for this theory...that's not how we are going to use the word. That meaning is reserved for cultures, which are a part of Societies. Civilization in this theory, is the polar opposite of the wild. The Wild, the natural ecosystem, defines the life forms that dwell within it. This is not a question of balance, this is a question of adaptation. In the wild, life forms adapt, they therefor evolve, however... If you know anything about human history, you would know we have not evolved for a very, very long time. The reason for this is simple, we don't need to. The reason mankind is the dominant species on the planet, is not because of our numbers, that is a product of our advantage. No, we sport the light of reason, the ability to reason, how to make tools, how to cultivate the land, how to create shelters instead of finding them. We are the dominant species, not because adapt to our surrounding but because we have adapted our surroundings to suit us. Civilization is thus defined in the theory as, any space which has been cultivated/adapted to be on some level divorce from the original state of the ecosystem, as it accommodates the life form that adapted the area. Civilization is farmland, it is buildings, cities, infrastructure. The means of civilization is technology. Its consequences can be pollution, and deforestation, but it is also, that we have separated ourselves from the food chain (to some degree) allowing us to multiply and be fruitful. Monsters in the theory, are not so much allegory as they are representations or literal threats to civilization. They may bring it to ruin, destroy it and us along with it. Monsters are thus champions of the wild, of nature, or they may simply want to destroy one civilization for another... that a topic for another time. If monsters are champions of the wild, direct threats to civilization, then Knights, heroes, are thus champions of Civilization. Even today, we have a term for a monstrous animal, a 'man-eater', which is effectively an animal that goes into civilization and preys on people. This is a creature, regardless of whether it can perceive such notions or idea, that tramples on the sanctity of 'civilization', an area which had been made seperate from the laws of the jungle. Super Robots: The Knights Just as Dragon are the prototype of the Kaiju, a bloodline that was inherited by Godzilla, who traded his ancestors' fire breath, for 'atomic breath', so too can you say that Super Robots are the descendants of the idea of the knight. The knight wields technology in the form of the sword, shield and armor. Technology is both the byproduct and means by which Civilization is formed. Super Robots, by the definition of being 'robots', regardless of it they are sentient or piloted, are basically incarnations of technology, idols to man's progress. They are also, almost always valorous and chivalrous. You can also think of them as the result of a sort of arms race. With the dragon, a sword, blessed or otherwise, could slay them. With Kaiju tanks and planes cannot stop them, but Super Robots can. Super Robots can represent something else, besides technology, and yet still be champions of civilization. Heroes in the old tales were often demigods, or gifted with divine gifts. These are the mystical, magical robots often from some mythical ancient civilization. The Moral Grey of the Princess So by now you're probably wondering about the third part of that traditional fairy tale, which is missing; the Princess. The damsel-in-distress who gets saved by the knight. Well, the Princess in this situation is...less of a character. Even the knight and dragon are archetypes that connect numerous characters. However, the role of a princess, is less to act as a character, or the blueprint of one, and more so a reward for the hero. This is why damsels-in-distress suck as characters. This is not from a liberal or conservative perspective...they really do suck as characters. Seriously, who really cares about the damsel-in-distress?!? As character they're basically a living McGuffin. Still lets look at what the princess typically represents. The fairy tale Princess can and has represented various things and depending on what you the writer use the Knight and Dragon to represent. The Princess can represent virtue...purity, which works if the Knight and Dragon represent good and evil in your story. However, there can and are deeper meanings you can use. It is most interesting that it is, how dragons seems to be so associated with maidens. Western dragons kidnap princesses (for conceivable reason), virgin maidens were often sacrificed to dragon gods of rivers and such. There is the tail of the Korean dragon, who starts out as an Immogi, a great serpent, and gains dragon/godhood when they consume or merge, depending on how you want to tell this story, with their destined maiden who is an incarnated maiden of heaven. Dragons are often associated with serpents, they are often called such, and serpents have long been associated with Earth Mothers in both western and eastern mythology. So lets expand the idea of the 'Princess' to be less, some maiden, or king's daughter, and be a representation of the 'Earth Mother'. This means, the Princess represents...the world the Knight and Dragon are fighting over, prosperity, fertility and therefore a future. The Princess is representative of the prize of victory. Going back to the world idea, and tying back into the title of this section, who does the princess belong to? Some would say that she belongs to the Knight and civilization, she is a princess, a title, a station born in civilization. Yet from the perspective of the Dragon, that is his Earth Mother. Who is older, the knight or the dragon? Perhaps the dragon originates as a response to Civilization, but the Wilderness he represents is far older than any towns or city. The moral grey comes in because, well, from an outsiders point of view, Knight or Dragon, it's just two forces fighting, for what all forces fight for, victory, prosperity. Both wish the eradicate the other, because both are threatened by the other. Frankly, there are civilizations that do make an effort to live in peace with dragons and thus what they represent. So who is really the bad guy; the knight trying to save the princess, or the Earth Dragon, trying to protect his maiden/Earth Mother? Or maybe their both stooges dancing to the tune the Princess plays... Or maybe you can just go with a simple story of hero slays monster? 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